We are often told that exercise, making time for our favorite activities and meditation or mindfulness are the best ways to deal with stress.
Research by me and other members of the research team has shown that eating healthy foods can help reduce stress. APC Microbiome Ireland.
The latest study found that eating more fiber and fermented foods daily for four weeks has a significant impact on blood sugar levels. Stress levels perceived.
In the past decadeA growing body of research is showing that diet has a significant impact on health. Having a positive impact on our mental health is huge. A healthy diet can even lower the risk of developing diabetes. many common mental illnesses.
We still don’t know the mechanisms that underlie diet’s effect on mental health. One explanation could be the link between our brains and our microbiome (the billions of bacteria living in our gut).
The Known as gut-brain axisThis allows brain and gut to communicate with one another, which is essential for body functions like digestion and appetite. It also means our gut and brain are in close communication.
Research has previously shown that stress and behavioral changes are linked. Our microbiome is closely linkedIt is not clear if changing our diet and therefore our microbiome could have an impact on stress levels.
This is the purpose of our study. To test this, we recruited 45 healthy people with relatively low-fiber diets, aged 18–59 years. Over half of these were women.
The study involved participants being divided into two groups, and each group was randomly assigned a diet over the course of four weeks.
Kirsten Berding, a nutritionist, gave half of the participants a diet that would increase their intake of prebiotics and fermented foods. This is called a “a” diet. “psychobiotic” dietIt included foods that were linked to improved mental health.
At the beginning and halfway of the study, the group received a one on-one education session from a dietitian.
They were instructed to aim for 6-8 daily servings of fruits and vegetables rich in prebiotic fibers (such a onions, leeks and cabbage, as well as 5-8 servings each of grains and 3-4 weekly servings of legumes.
They were also instructed to consume 2-3 portions of fermented foods per day (such kefir, sauerkraut, and kombucha). Participants on the control diet did not receive any dietary advice. It was based only on healthy eating. food pyramid.
Less stress
It is interesting to note that those who adopted the psychobiotic diet reported feeling less stressed than those who followed a control diet.
It was also found that participants’ perceived stress levels were directly related to how strict they followed their diets. Participants who consumed more psychobiotic food over the course of the four-week period reported the greatest reductions in stress levels.
Interestingly, the quality of sleep improved in both groups – though those on the psychobiotic diet reported greater improvements in sleep.
Studies have also shown that microbes in the gut are involved in a variety of diseases. Sleep processesThis link may be explained by.
Only subtle changes were observed in the composition of the microbes and their function in the gut after the psychobiotic diet.
We did however observe significant changes in the levels of key chemicals that these microbes produced.
Some of these chemicals were Mental health is closely linkedThis could explain why people who tried the diet reported feeling less stressed.
These diets are effective in reducing stress levels, according to our results. This diet could also help. Mental health protectionIt targets microbes in your gut and will pay off in the long-term.
Although these results are encouraging, the study has its limitations. The sample size is limited because of the small sample size. pandemicRecruitment restrictions
Second, the short duration of the study could have limited the changes we observed – and it’s unclear how long they would last. Long-term studies are therefore necessary.
Third, even though participants did record their daily food intake, this measurement is susceptible to errors and biases, particularly when it comes to estimating food intake.
We tried our best to make sure that participants did not know their group, but they might have been able based on nutrition advice to guess. This could have affected their responses at the end.
Finally, the study only considered healthy individuals. We don’t know what this diet might have on someone else who is not as healthy.
Our study shows that diet may be an effective way of reducing stress. It will be interesting to see if these results are also possible for people with stress-related disorders like anxiety. Depression. It adds additional evidence to support this assertion. Research fieldThis evidence shows a connection between diet, microbiome, mental health, and exercise.
If you find yourself feeling stressed out, you might be able to think about what you will eat for lunch or dinner the next time. You may feel less stressed if you eat more fiber and fermented food for a few days.
John Cryan, Vice President for Research & Innovation, University College Cork
This article has been republished from The ConversationUnder a Creative Commons License Learn more Original article.
